Sources (January 2013): CIA World Factbook, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Internet World Stats,
MDG Info 2010,
Quota Project,
UNESCO Institute for Statistics,
UNICEF ChildInfo ,
UNICEF State of the World's Children
2011, United Nations Development Project
Human Development Reports, World Economic Forum, World Health
Organization Global Health Observatory Database. 1.The World Economic Forum's Gender Gap index assesses how well countries divide resources and opportunities amongs male and female populations in four areas: economic participation and opportunity (salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment), educational attainment (access to basic and higher level education), health and survival (life expectancy and sex ratio), and political empowerment (representation in decision-making structures). 2. The UNDP's Gender Inequality Index is designed to reveal the extent to which national human development achievements are eroded by gender inequality. It is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health (maternal mortality ratio and adolescent fertility rate), empowerment (share of parliamentary seats, and secondary and higher education attainment levels) and the labour market (women's participation in the work force). It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). 3. The UNDP's Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary composite index that measures a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: health, knowledge, and income. It was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. 4. Vulnerable employment is a Millenium Development Goal (MDG) 1B indicator; vulnerable employments are lower productivity and informal activities such as own-account workers and unpaid family workers. They are therefore more likely to lack benefi ts associated with decent employment, such as adequate social security and recourse to effective mechanisms for social dialogue. Vulnerable employment is often characterized by inadequate earnings, low productivity and substandard working conditions that undermine fundamental labour rights.

Our Partner

Bahrain Women Association - for Human Development (BWA) is a non profit organization dedicated to empowering women to actively participate in public life and to maximize their contribution to Bahrain’s democratic transition. Through activities including training workshops and seminars, radio and television programs, advocacy campaigns and networking, BWA promotes active citizen participation among women. Officially established in 2001, the vision of BWA is "to empower leaders for the human development era." Read More >

“We shared one passionate spirit to formulate our visions for a better tomorrow and a better world.”
- Ahmed from Egypt on his experience at the Active Citizenship and Movement Building Institute for Millennials in Beirut, Lebanon.

From April 13-15, 2014, WLP Bahrain/Bahrain Women’s Society (BWA) convened a women’s leadership workshop in the Businesswomen’s Center of the Asharqia Chamber (a private enterprise association) in Al Khubar, Saudi Arabia. The training was based on Women’s Learning Partnership’s (WLP) flagship training manual Leading to Choices (LTC), and was attended by 16 highly qualified businesswomen and microfinance entrepreneurs from different parts of Saudi Arabia.

Throughout 2013 WLP Bahrain/Bahrain Women’s Association (BWA) launched and participated in a number of events outside of Bahrain, strengthening regional and international solidarity with other NGOs and WLP partner organizations. BWA held leadership trainings for women in Kuwait and Qatar using the Leading to Choices curriculum, while BWA members also participated in regional convenings of women’s human rights activists in Egypt and Jordan.

Equality Without Reservation (EWR) is an campaign based in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region, consisting of 120 organizations from 17 Arab countries, advocating for the removal of all reservations to the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); ratification of the Convention’s Optional Protocol; and full implementation of the Con

The following is WLP President Mahnaz Afkhami's written testimony for the hearing on Women and the Arab Spring to the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operation and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues and Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Central Asia Affairs. Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony on the state of women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa during this critical time of transition.

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“We shared one passionate spirit to formulate our visions for a better tomorrow and a better world.”
- Ahmed from Egypt on his experience at the Active Citizenship and Movement Building Institute for Millennials in Beirut, Lebanon.